An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event
in thier lives.

An estimated 8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives -
that is 1 in every 13 Americans!

An estimated 5 percent of Americans - more than 13 million people - will
have PTSD at any given time.

Women (10.4%) are twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD.

The traumatic events most associated with PTSD for men are: rape, combat exposure, childhood neglect, and
childhood physcial abuse.

The traumatic events most associated with PTSD for women are: rape, sexual molestation, physical attack,
being threatened with a weapon, and childhood sexual abuse.

About 30% of the men and women who have spent time in a war zone experience PTSD.

One million war veterans developed PTSD after serving in Vietnam.

PTSD has also been detected among veterans of the Persian Gulf War, with some estimates running as high as
8 percent.

PTSD and Co-Morbidity

Persons that suffer from PTSD experience few, some, or many of the following symptoms:

Significant Social Maladjustment

Poor Quality of Life

Medical CoMorbidity

General Symptom Severity.

2. General Symptom Severity includes:

Social Avoidance

Social Phobia

Guilt

Difficulties with Anger and Anger Control

Cognitive Impairment

Unemployment

Family Discord

Self-destructive behavior, including:

Alcohol or drug abuse

Suicidal impulses

High-risk sexual behaviors

Other high-risk behavior that may be life-endangering, such as fast or reckless driving

3. Physical complaints, any or all of which may be accompanied by Depression.

4. PTSD is typically accompanied by multiple comorbid Axis I and II Disorders,
including Major Depression, Psychosis, Personality Disorders, other Anxiety Disorders (such as Panic Disorder), and Substance
Abuse.

PTSD Statistics and Severe Mental Illness (SMI)

Recent studies show that trauma victimization is highly prevalent (51-98%) among persons with SMI, such as
Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder, who are treated within the public sector (Frueh, 2004).

In a multisite study, it was found that 98% of community mental health consumers with SMI had a history of
trauma exposure and 42% had diagnoses of PTSD (Mueser et al., 1998).

Romme and Escher, 1989, found that 70% of people who hear voices developed their hallucinations following
a traumatic event (as cited in Callcott and Standart, 2004).

Unfortunately, there are virtually no empirical outcome data concerning treatment of PTSD in people with
SMI who are treated within public-sector mental health clinics, a population with high levels of psychiatric comorbidity,
substance abuse, symptom chronicity, and impaired social and occupational functioning.

Research is beginning to address this area as the above concerns come to light.